Oplan Tokhang to resume after COVID-19 pandemic, PDEA chief says

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Wilkins Villanueva on Friday said Oplan Tokhang would resume after the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a press conference, Villanueva said the Oplan Tokhang, or the law enforcers' knock-and-plead strategy of convincing drug suspects to stop using illegal drugs, would be done particularly in areas which have no barangay anti-drug abuse council (BADAC).

"Mayroon pa rin kaming totokhangin na yet to implement and that will follow right after sa COVID. Kasi sa ngayon, mahirap makipagsabayan sa COVID eh. Right after matapos ang COVID, doon kami magi-i-start na mag-tokhangan," Villanueva said.

"To tell everybody, kung ang barangay ninyo ay wala pang barangay anti-drug abuse council, tokhangin ninyo si kapitan. Dapat mag-organize sila ng barangay anti-drug abuse council. So doon pa lang sa level pa lang na 'yun, kasi 'yun ang unang level sa barangay drug-clearing eh," he added.

The said operation became controversial as it has been linked to the thousands of killings under the Duterte administration's war on illegal drugs.

Oplan Tokhang

Villanueva explained that under Oplan Tokhang, a law enforcer will persuade a drug suspect to surrender and avail of the barangay's intervention program.

"Ang problema pagdating dito sa Maynila, 'yung tokhang naging anti-drug operation. Para saan 'yang tokhang? That house visitation is just letting the people in the house, kung nasaan 'yung bahay noong drug personality na sabihin, 'hey... Pedro, ikaw nasa listahan namin, drug user. Pumunta ka lang sa barangay at bibigyan na ng intervention program,' 'Yun lang naman ang purpose ng tokhang," he said.

"Totoktokin mo 'yung nasa bahay, sasabihin mo sumurrender ka dahil may intervention para sayo. Ngayon kung di ka sumurrender, coconduct-an ka namin ng anti-drug operations, ayaw mo eh," Villanueva added.

The PDEA chief believed that international critics of the government's war on drugs would appreciate the campaign if they would see the bigger picture of the barangay drug-clearing program, wherein Oplan Tokhang is its first level.

"Dito lang sa Pilipinas mayroong barangay drug-clearing program. Tayo lang ang mayroon. That's why magiging case study tayo ng United Nations if we give the whole nomenclature of the barangay drug-clearing program. Malaman lang nila 'yung nakapaloob dito sa barangay drug-clearing program, mas maaappreciate nila ang war on drugs," Villanueva said.

Villanueva had said that the pandemic slowed down barangay drug-cleaning operations. 

"Medyo bumagal ang barangay drug-clearing operations natin dahil dito sa pandemic. Ang local government ay naging busy doon sa COVID so 'yung rehabilitation program ay medyo nai-stymie. But it will not stop us from clearing barangays at 'yun ang napagusapan namin ni Chief PNP," Villanueva said.

"Talagang dederetso tayo hanggang barangay. Bakit? Kasi ang droga, kahit saan galing 'yan, China man 'yan, galing man 'yan sa Golden Triangle, galing man 'yan sa Africa, siguradong sa barangay 'yan lalanding," he added.

Case buildup

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief Police General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan said if the drug suspect refuses to surrender to authorities, police will conduct a case buildup against him or her.

"Prove to the court that we need to arrest you because of illegal activities on illegal drugs," Cascolan said.

Cascolan is the co-author of the reinvigorated Oplan Double Barrel under the government’s war on drugs, which focused on high-value targets.

Data from PDEA showed that from July 1, 2016 to August 31, 2020, a total of 5,856 drug suspects were killed during 176,777 anti-illegal drugs operations.

Critics of the drug war have claimed that the number of slays increased to more than 27,000.

The agency also said 256,788 drug suspects were nabbed, in which 10,308 were high value targets. — RSJ, GMA News